The development of adult education in the Detroit area during the years 1875-1932 was intimately tied to the social, political, and economic events of that time span. Data gleaned from census records, Board of Education minutes, old maps, street guides, labor legislation, educational legislation, church records, advertisements, alien registrations, financial records, and political election results provide insight into the trends of the times that influenced the qrowth of adult education. For example, the tides of immigrants--first German, then Irish, later Polish--that poured into the city in the late 1800s to work in the automobile factories necessitated the formation of "naturalization" and "Americanization" schools. These schools became organized after the turn of the century, from earlier fragmentary beginnings, with the creation of adult evening schools in Detroit. Especially influential in the growth of these evening schools was Frank Cody, general supervisor of adult education for the Detroit Public School System. Another pervasive influence in adult education in Detroit was the Catholic Church, which operated adult education programs, including colleges, and whose history in the city is entwined with the growth of the adult education movement. (Further research into historical records of the city and the Church is suggested to provide a more complete picture of the history of adult education in Detroit.) (KC)